Cricket Australia chief Kevin Roberts
Two months after Cricket Australia furloughed 80 per cent of their staff owing to the financial crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, CEO Kevin Roberts is now set to be sacked following his mishandling of the situation and defending the decision to lay off staff. And according to reports, the board will sack Roberts and appoint an interim following a meeting of the members on Wednesday (June 17). Roberts has been under fire since he opined that the board will face serious financial problems if their summer campaign does not go ahead which includes the World T20 and the India tour.
Roberts replaced long-standing CEO James Sutherland who had resigned after 17 years of service, in the aftermath of the ball-tampering scandal. Roberts had earlier worked under Sutherland and had resolved the pay-dispute row in 2017. Meanwhile, under his time as the CEO of CA, the Australian cricket team bounced back from the horrific scar, created better on-field culture, and even retained the Ashes in England last year before dominating last home summer across formats.
But all his efforts went downhill following the manner in which he handled the board and took decisions during the pandemic which included 20 per cent pay cuts and 80 per cent staff being laid off.
What further put his position in hot water was Australia's rapidly improving conditions with CA even announcing a proper summer calendar featuring men's and women's contest until February 2.
According to Cricbuzz, his fate will be announced on Wednesday with CA also naming the interim.
